Transportation Secretary Buttigieg previously said the government was working to reduce deadly car accidents by commencing a “safe system” approach that would evaluate roads and cars designs. The program will be funded from the infrastructure law, which includes a $5 billion fund that will provide grants aimed at protecting bicyclists and pedestrians. The infrastructure law requires technology that could address some causes of fatalities, such as including breath monitoring devices in cars. The government released this deadly car accident information in advance of the Labor Day holiday, in hopes of educating drivers to avoid reckless conduct, like drinking and driving, and texting while driving. The government is also introducing a multi-million-dollar campaign to advanced driver education and safety. While NHTSA has responsibility for the safety of vehicles, much of its budget is dedicated to advertising campaigns and help for law enforcement. Some safety advocates say the federal government has struggled to move beyond its long-standing focus on driver behavior.

As we remember during the beginning of the pandemic, roads had much less traffic but those on the roads drove at much faster speeds, not being burdened by rush hour congestion. With most people thinking the pandemic is in the past, Americans drove more than 750 billion miles between January and March, a rise of more than 5 percent versus 2021.NHTSA determined that the death rate on U.S. roads during the first three months of this year was 1.27 per 100 million miles driven, also a significant rise from 2020. .

As car accident lawyers, we at the Law Offices of Joseph Lipsky, sadly see the life altering consequences of reckless drivers. We remind all drivers that with the ready availability of ride shares, that there is no reason to drink and drive. And as for your cell phone, remember there is no call or text worth your life, the phone can wait. Being careful behind the wheel is safer for everyone.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 43,000 people lost their lives in car and truck accidents last year, an increase of 10.5% over 2020, which itself had the highest death rate in fifteen years. In comparison, during 2019, car accident death rates rose nearly 20 percent, which was the highest rise since the mid-1940s. Trying to determine the reason for the dramatic increase is difficult, but researchers believe it is a deadly combination of faster reckless drivers using their phones while behind the wheel.

Not surprisingly, Florida is a top state for distraction-related automobile deaths, according to data from MoneyGeek.The Sunshine State had over 500 distracted driving deaths during the years 2019 to 2020. The only state with more distracted driving deaths during that time was Texas. In hopes of changing the path of deadly crashes in Florida, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) and the Florida Highway Patrol started a campaign, during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, to teach Florida motorists about the importance of avoiding distracted driving. According to FLHSMV data, distracted driving crashes resulted in 333 fatalities in 2021 – the highest recorded in Florida in at least 8 years. On average, there were more than 1,000 distracted driving crashes every week across Florida last year.

In addition to distracted drivers causing deadly crashes, increases in the number of electric cars, which are faster than internal combustion vehicles, led to greater risks for pedestrians and bicyclists, who may not hear the approaching electric vehicle. The number of heavy vehicles with greater horsepower on the roadways is also at an all-time high. Heavy fast vehicles dramatically increase the likelihood of death or serious injuries from a crash. The EPA found that vehicle’s average horsepower has nearly doubled over the last 20 years.

Also, large trucks and SUVs, given their weight, are especially dangerous for pedestrians. Data shows that these vehicles pose a deadlier threat to pedestrians as compared to cars when making turns. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that while a vehicle with a higher ride height can help with down the road visibility, they cause the driver to have a greater blind spot in the areas immediately in front of the high vehicle. Increasingly bigger vehicle is a reason why more than seven thousand pedestrians died in traffic accidents last year, a rise of more than thirteen percent from the prior year. Although we drove the least number of miles during the Covid-19 lockdowns, because those on the road drove more carelessly, there was actually an increase in the number of pedestrian deaths per mile driven. In order to turn the tide against the rising number of roadway traffic deaths, there needs to be greater regulatory changes, in combination with drive behavior changes – particularly making sure drivers and passengers use their seatbelts. The NHTSA’s data shows the number of unrestrained drivers and passenger who have died in car accident rose more than twenty percent over the last two years.

Having helped too many families deal with the tragic death of a loved one after a Florida car accident caused by a distracted or reckless driver, we again tell your fellow Floridians, please put your phone down when you’re behind the wheel. Even a quick glance at your phone while your vehicle is moving puts everyone else on the road, and all passengers in your vehicle, in danger.

The government estimates that the number of car accident deaths during the period last year from January through September rose by twelve percent compared to the same time frame in 2020, a rise which was the highest recorded in over forty years, the greatest rise since the government’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System began monitoring traffic deaths. In fact, the number of car accident deaths of the year’s first nine months was the highest during those months since 2006. As expected, Florida, which was one of the first states to lift pandemic restrictions, was one of the states which lead the rise in traffic accident deaths. The rise in fatalities correlates to 1.36 traffic deaths per 100 million vehicle miles driven, which statistically was a slight rise from the 1.35 per miles traveled measured in 2020. Interestingly, the deadly rise diminished during the third quarter of 2021 versus the same quarter of 2020.

In light of this shocking rise, the Department of Transportation vowed to roll out a nationwide plan, called the National Roadway Safety Strategy, in hopes of reversing this deadly trend. Specifically, part of the recently passed infrastructure law will encourage states to build safer roads, with dedicated bicycle and bus lanes, increase lighting along rural roads and install more crosswalks. Given the difficulties local police departments are having deploying officers for traffic patrols, plans also call for installation of speed cameras, which are disfavored by motorists, but provide for greater and more cost-effective speed enforcement. Evidence is clear that reducing speeding motorists correlates to an equivalent drop in violent crashes, meaning lives are saved.

The primary components of the Roadway Safety Strategy, according to the plan put out, including:

• Safer People: Encourage safe, responsible behavior by people who use our roads and create conditions that prioritize their ability to reach their destination unharmed.
• Safer Roads: Design roadway environments to mitigate human mistakes and account for injury tolerances, to encourage safer behaviors, and to facilitate safe travel by the most vulnerable users.
• Safer Vehicles: Expand the availability of vehicle systems and features that help to prevent crashes and minimize the impact of crashes on both occupants and non-occupants.
• Safer Speeds: Promote safer speeds in all roadway environments through a combination of thoughtful, context-appropriate roadway design, targeted education and outreach campaigns, and enforcement.
• Post-Crash Care: Enhance the survivability of crashes through expedient access to emergency medical care, while creating a safe working environment for vital first responders and preventing secondary crashes through robust traffic incident management practices.

As personal injury attorneys helping seriously injured car accident victims across Florida, we applaud and encourage the government’s efforts to reduce deadly car accidents, which is why we remind everyone to focus on driving safety and avoid using cell phones while driving.

While safety advocates had hoped for a silver-lining during Covid, that a significant drop in vehicular traffic would result in an equally impactful drop in car accident deaths; the sad part is that those who choose to drive during the lockdowns actually demonstrated riskier driving behavior, including driving at high speeds. The dangerous driving was also documented by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which confirmed that more speeding meant deadlier crashes. Those findings seem out of place when looking back at Florida’s March and April, 2020, state of emergency and stay-at-home orders.

Most observers point to Covid-19 as significant contributing factor in the rise in deadly crashes – a statistic which is omitted from the Covid-19 reported death numbers. The safety council calculated that Americans drove nearly thirteen percent less over the past year; yet, the rate of driving deaths per 100 million vehicle miles driven increased by nearly twenty-five percent to 1.49, the greatest percentage increase in over 100 years.

While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not yet reported their official full-year traffic accident statistics, initial evaluations found a similar dramatic rise in the rate of car accident deaths last year. To better understand the implications of the pandemic’s affect upon traffic deaths, the Insurance Institute, the Governors Highway Safety Association and the National Road Safety Foundation, are joining forces to commence statewide projects meant to reduce excessive speeding.

The findings in the United States are shocking especially when compared to other developed countries, which had by contrast a significant drop in car accidents car accident deaths over the past year. And of course, Florida’s reputation for dangerous drivers was verified as our state was one of the deadliest during the past year. Last year more than 3,300 drivers, pedestrians or passengers died in car accidents across the State. In fact, there were over 340,000 car accidents in Florida during 2020, with an additional 212,122 reported injuries. While the number of total car accidents dropped from 2019’s number of 401,893, the number of deaths rose by nearly ten percent, which confirms the severity of those crashes.

The National Safety Council is advocating for a number of safety measures to help combat reckless driving as the country begins to climb out of the pandemic, including breath-test ignition locks for convicted drunk drivers, reducing speed limits and greater enforcement of laws which ban texting and cellphone use while driving. Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer Joseph Lipsky also reminds his fellow Floridians to always use your seat-belt and place children in properly installed car seats. He also urges all motorcycle riders to wear approved helmets, as they are nearly forty percent effective in preventing deadly injuries to motorcycle drivers and their passengers.

While the stay-at-home restrictions emptied the roads of significant traffic, driver speeds rose steadily, resulting in a shocking rise in car accidents and wrongful deaths. Usually, economic slowdowns resulted in less miles being drive, last year’s drop was almost 20% versus 2019. Despite such a large drop, the ratio of car accident wrongful deaths rose by nearly twenty percent, up to 1.25 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

According to the NHTSA “Preliminary data tells us that during the national health emergency, fewer Americans drove, but those who did took more risks and had more fatal crashes,” the safety agency said in a letter addressed to the nation’s drivers. Traffic deaths rose 0.6% during the first-quarter of 2020, but they fell 1.1% in the second quarter as coronavirus lockdowns restricted movement. Car accident wrongful deaths dramatically rose by 13.1% from July through September. As the pandemic began and drivers encountered less crowded roads, they drove faster. And with police officers reluctant to interact with motorist, in a need to protect themselves from transmission of the virus, there was a drop in enforcement of traffic safety laws.

NHTSA reported an increase of more than twenty percent in car and truck speeding compared to the months leading up to the pandemic. That rise in speeding had a commensurate rise in serious injuries, as the study also found that nearly two-thirds of all trauma center visits were due to serious car accident, a rise from fifty percent prior to COVID-19. In other words, the number of drivers and passengers who died rose despite a serious drop in the number of miles they traveled.

Another sadly surprise is that the number of vehicle occupants who were ejected in car accidents doubled from 2019, meaning those driving were not using their seatbelts. While vehicle use has returned to near pre-Covid levels, data has found that drivers’ habits have not returned to normal, meaning they are continuing to drive faster and without taking proper precaution. So, while the number of car accident injuries in Florida during 2020 actually dropped to 209,333, from 254,823 in 2019, the rise in deaths due to the increase in driver speeding is more than concerning.

We at the personal injury law offices of Joseph Lipsky can only hope our fellow Floridians realize the less crowded roads are not an invitation to speed. As we all have enough reasons to be concerned about our health, the dangers of reckless driving are yet another matter we can control by slowing down. As the old expression says, let’s slow down and “Arrive Alive.”

The study found that over the past year, seventy-five percent of rear seat passengers used a seatbelt, which was a decrease from prior years. The crash wrongful deaths were not limited to cars, which accounted for half of the unbelted fatalities, an equal number involved rear-seat passengers in trucks and vans. The study concluded that if those rear-seat passengers were using a seatbelt, more than half would have survived the car accident.

The study was based upon an investigation of police reports and the damage from thousands of car and truck accidents and compared them to federal statistics. Those federal statistics confirm that rear-seat shoulder/lap seatbelts do prevent wrongful deaths in nearly fifty percent of crashes. When analyzed for those traveling in the rear of light trucks and vans, seatbelts were more than seventy percent effective in preventing wrongful deaths. Despite the fact that those states with mandatory rear-seat seatbelt laws have a significantly greater survival rate in serious car accidents, Florida still does not have a mandatory rear-seat seatbelt law for passengers older than 18 years of age.

As a result of Florida’s failure to require rear-seat passenger belt usage, less than sixty-seven percent of rear-seat passengers actually use an available seatbelt, which puts them at a significantly greater risk of being injured or killed in a crash. In light of the advances in safety and accident prevention being developed by car manufacturers with regards to front-seat passengers, who at nearly ninety percent usage, are more prone to buckle up; the same attention to safety has not taken place regarding rear-seats and the passengers who use them.

Considering the inability to install airbags for rear-seat passengers, those riding in the second and third row of vehicles need to take greater control of their own safety by using available seatbelts. And while most vehicles have audible alarms which chime when a front seat passenger does not use their seatbelt, most vehicles do not have the same warning notifications regarding rear-seat passengers. While such alarms may not cause all rear-seat passengers to use their seatbelts, it will at the very least cause drivers to remind their rear-seat occupants to buckle up. As Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers, we can only hope that those advances and greater driver awareness will cause rear-seat passengers to use their seatbelts and be spared serious injury.

Not to stress this point, but according to Jack Nelson, the AAA director of traffic safety and research, “this is at least two people killed every day at the hands of drivers blowing through red lights.”

While the purpose of the study was not to determine the reason for the increase in red-light related car accident deaths, the AAA still postulated that one contributing factor is that we are driving more as a society. According to the data AAA tracked, the average number of miles motorist drove over the last ten years, since the great depression, increased by more than five percent, a figure confirmed by the Federal Highway Administration. Other uncontroverted factors include the exponential rise in the number of so-called smartphones being used by drivers and the increase in in-vehicle information and entertainment systems.

Handheld and in-vehicle devices are a significant part of why drivers are ever increasingly distracted. The increase of distracted driving is one of the primary reasons why the total amount of car and truck accident deaths rose by nearly 15% over the last three years to a high of just over 37,000 across the United States. This fact must not be overlooked by passengers, as more than half of those killed in car accidents were not the drivers, but rather passengers or pedestrians. This is why the AAA reminds passengers not to further distract drivers, particularly as they approach intersections and traffic control devices, like stop lights.

The AAA is encouraging traffic engineers to make roadway changes including more roundabouts and including red-light cameras at particularly busy intersections, although they do not expect local governments to have or allocate the necessary financial resources to effectively make such changes. The hope is that the increasing implementation of self-driving vehicles will result in greater accident avoidance and the preservation of human life. We could not agree more, but it is likely that many years will pass before the amount of vehicles with viable accident avoidance technology will be on the road to make a meaningful change.

And of course, Florida again is considered one of the most deadly states for car accident deaths, partially due to some of the most lenient driving laws in the country.

Car accident dangers are evaluated in the study in 5 categories including occupant protection, child passenger safety, teen driving, drunk driving and distracted driving. Florida drivers demonstrated some of the most dangerous behaviors resulting in 2,922 fatal crashes with over three thousand car accident wrongful deaths in 2017.U.S. crash deaths fell slightly in 2017 but still reflected the second-deadliest year on the road in the last decade. As expected, given Florida’s recent rise in legal marijuana use, some of the most frequent causes of deadly car accident include drugged driving and distracted driving.

One of the ways to change the momentum and further decrease the likelihood of deadly car crashes is by more aggressive legislation. Currently Florida has minimal laws regarding seat belts and distracted driving, such as only front seat passengers being required to use seat belts, studies recommend that Florida’s legislature pass more driving safety laws, including:

▪ Rear seat passenger seat belt law.

▪ Requiring all-rider motorcycle to use a helmet. Currently motorcycle drivers over 21 with $10,000 in medical insurance coverage are permitted to ride without helmets.

▪ Rear facing child car seat requirement through age 2.

▪ Mandatory booster seat law.

▪ Changing the age from 15 to 16 for a learner’s permit.

▪ Raising the age from 16 to 18 for unrestricted license for teen drivers. Currently get a driver’s license at 16 in Florida, if written and road tests are passed.

▪ Requiring ignition locks for all DUI offenders that would stop them from driving if the user fails a breath test.

▪ Implementing text messaging restriction.

▪ Cellphone restriction. Twenty states and D.C. lack optimal laws restricting cellphone use for teen drivers.

This uptick in traffic deaths is particularly concerning with regards to the number of pedestrians killed along U.S. roadways, which rose to its highest level in nearly 30 years, with more than 6000 pedestrians were killed in 2018. The reason for the increase in pedestrian traffic deaths is significantly tied to the exponential growth of pickups and SUV on the road. These bigger and heavier vehicles cause more significant injuries.

With Florida being one of the most deadly states from pedestrians, additional legislation may prevent some of the more deadly driving behaviors. Including: Further education about drowsy driving, which is a factor in nearly ten percent of all car crashes. And, putting more restrictions of users of now legal medical marijuana.

We at the Ft. Lauderdale car accident lawyer offices of Joseph Lipsky, P.A. believe that some common sense laws by our legislature would save lives, making our roads safer for motorist, pedestrians and cyclists.

In addition to the number of motorist deaths, sadly, the number of pedestrians and bicycle riders who died in car accidents remained overly high, at nearly six thousand. However, this too was a drop of almost two percent from the year before, but 2017 was the second most deadly year over the past thirty for pedestrians involved in car accidents.

Personal injury Lipsky agrees that the NHTSA’s figures are encouraging but do not under any circumstance represent a reason for celebration, as the overall trend of rising motorist and passenger deaths over the past decade remains alarmingly high. Common sense certainly shows that the increase in the number of distracted drivers, and those under the influence of alcohol or marijuana, which has since been legalized in Florida for medicinal purposes, remain a prevalent danger to both motorists and pedestrians. And while the statistics demonstrate that less than ten percent of traffic deaths are related to driver distraction, the NHTSA is the first to readily admit that the real number is certainly significantly higher. The primary reason for the inaccurate number of distracted driver accident can be attributed to the fact that drivers do not readily admit their use of smart phones, making it difficulty to adequate quantify the true number of drivers using their phones to talk or text while driving. We agree that this ever increasing problem warrants further investigation by the legislature to enact sensible laws, and by the police to enforce those laws already in effect, whose purpose is to properly discourage motorists from driving while distracted.

The downward trend in car accident deaths appears to have continued into 2018, as the data from the first six months of last year showed a further drop of slightly more than three percent in traffic fatalities. Unfortunately that still means more than seventeen thousand motorists lost their lives in the first half of last year, with too many from Florida. The NHTSA’s data also compares the number of car accident deaths to the number of miles driven by all motorists in the United States. By that calculation, because the number of miles driven rose in 2017, the ratio of traffic wrongful deaths reduced by nearly three percent, but again remained a one of the worst rates in over ten years.

The statistics reveal one thing, that those numbers on a page truly represent husbands, wives and children. The human toll shows why more must be done to reduce the number of traffic deaths. Whether through continuing technological innovations or increased regulations, a global effort must be made to stop the carnage on our roadways.

As everyone who suffers through the daily drive upon Florida’s highways, including the Florida Turnpike, I-75, I-95 and SR 826 knows, the study could only have one “winner” once it analyzed all the data. Incredibly, while most drivers think they drive well, the data reveals that that is not the case. In Florida, that data shows that our reputation is well earned. Florida’s drivers “won” for the 2^nd year in a row, a dubious honor as the nations’ worst. Florida’s honor is attributed to the number of deadly car accidents, ranking 9^th in the nation and we also had the 9^th greatest number of internet searches for traffic tickets. Surprisingly, Florida ranked at the bottom regarding the number of DUI arrest.

In addition to being the state with the worst drivers, Florida also has the most dangerous road, U.S. 1. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, U.S. 1 has a fatality rate of 2.8, with more than 1,011 car accidents with more than 1,000 wrongful deaths over the past ten years. Not too far behind I-95 running through Broward and Miami-Dade Counties with a fatality rate of 1.73 accidents per mile.

Many of the study’s findings are common sense, such as proving that states with more drivers driving more miles have a greater numbers of deadly car accidents, and those more populated states have more uninsured drivers. Given the rising costs of car insurance, it is not surprising that more drivers disregard the law and drive without insurance. It is this precise reason why we always tell our clients and friends to purchase as much uninsured motorist coverage as they can afford, to protect themselves from dangerous uninsured drivers. As Sergeant Esterhaus always said in Hill Street Blues, “let’s be careful out there,” and hopefully next year, Florida will not win this distinction again.

Proof of the dangers and higher mortality rates associated with driving a small vehicle are evident in a recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. According to the head of research, “physics matter. The bigger the vehicle, the safer you are in an accident.” Additionally, many larger vehicles tend to be more expensive than entry level ones, meaning they generally come equipped with more safety equipment which also helps their drivers survive even highway car accidents. Some of the more prominent safety and accident prevention technology in more expensive vehicles include automatic braking, additional airbags and pre-tensioning seat-belts.

The IIHS went through 4 years of car accidents which resulted in nearly 3,000 wrongful deaths, which was a significant increase compared to the prior four year period, and analyzed that data over 200 models of vehicles, each of which have at least 100,000 models on the roads. The eye-opening results demonstrated that the Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio had the highest death rates, with over 100 Hyundai Accent drivers’ deaths. As you can imagine, Hyundai, in trying to explain away the results, claims their vehicle meets all US safety standards.

For those SUV drivers, the news is much better. Of the 11 vehicles which had no driver fatalities, SUVs, including the Jeep Cherokee, Mazda CS-9 and Mercedes M class, featured prominently. Some of the other vehicles which had no driver wrongful deaths included the Audi A7, BMW 535 and the Lexus CT 200.

The study should cause anyone in the market for a new vehicle to reconsider their choices, particularly as we are entering the so-called summer driver season, when car accident wrongful deaths tend to rise.

The updated Arrive Alive campaign is a statewide safety program which brings together the resources of all police departments and the Department of Transportation, who with the use of real-time data hope to stem the residing tide of deadly car accidents. The State moved forward with its initiative after recent statistics demonstrated a rapid rise in Florida car accident caused wrongful deaths, increasing from 2500 in 2014, to more than 3000 in 2016. Incredibly, nearly 150 people have needlessly lost their lives on Florida’s roadways this year.

Not surprisingly, Florida is not alone in experiencing a rise in deadly car accidents. Nationally, car accident wrongful deaths increased more than 7 percent of the same time period. Yet, multiple studies show that Florida’s roads, due to a lack of safety laws, remains a leader in dangerousness. Some of the needed safety laws include police enforcement of passenger seat belt usage, mandatory motorcycle helmet use and a ban on texting while driving.

The Advocates report says Florida is missing a rear primary enforcement seat belt law, all rider-motorcycle helmet law, booster seat law, five of the seven teen driving provisions it recommends, an ignition interlock law, and an all-driver text messaging restriction. Although the Arrive Alive program is not advocating for these needed safe driving laws, as a Miami personal injury lawyer, Joseph Lipsky suggests the Florida legislature take action in passing laws which will save lives.

As for the Florida’s Arrive Alive campaign, Florida law enforcement intends to spend their resources and efforts on increased police presence, driver education and road improvements. According to the statement from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, “The Arrive Alive initiative will incorporate law enforcement presence, media outreach and road safety assessments in high crash and high crime areas through a strategic and data driven approach. This approach will be shared with partners and will guide all activity throughout the initiative to ensure resources are targeted in the appropriate areas.” We certainly welcome any statewide effort to reduce car accidents and wrongful deaths, and hope our fellow drivers recognize the dangers which are present on Florida’s roads, and Arrive Alive.

While investigators are not able to point to a specific reason why traffic deaths rose last year, it is believed that low gas prices put more motorists driving more miles on roads across the country. Additionally, as is certainly known, the increase in driver distraction, particularly texting while driving is certainly a contributing cause. The number of deadly crashes rose despite ongoing safety efforts by the NHTSA, such as attempts to accelerate technology which may avert sleepy driving. The agency also announced additional initiatives to change driver behavior as it pertains to fighting drunk, impaired and aggressive driving.

Although common sense dictates that all vehicle occupants should be able to reach their destinations safe and alive, especially with the prevalence and use of so-called autonomous vehicle systems, such as automated braking and stability control, inattentive driver behavior remains a compelling reason for deadly crashes. Although, the recent death of a motorist who was apparently watching a movie while using his vehicle’s auto pilot feature last week, reminds us that accident prevention technology has serious limitations in its effectiveness.

In light of the unfortunate increase in deadly accidents Ft. Lauderdale personal injury attorney Joseph Lipsky certainly hopes his fellow motorists consider how their actions can change the lives of others in a moment of carelessness. Driving while impaired or distracted by texting is behavior which must all motorists must take an active role in preventing.

With the size of Biscayne Bay and frequent boating off shore of Miami Beach, Miami-Dade had 96 boating accidents in 2015, which resulted in nearly $3 million in property damage and unfortunately with three wrongful deaths and seventy four personal injuries. The Florida Keys, comprising of both Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, accounted for 78 accidents, resulting in 5 wrongful deaths and nearly 50 injuries. The 57 boating accidents in Broward County during 2015, resulted in five deaths and over 40 injuries.

According to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, about one half of all boat accidents were caused by operators failing to maintain a proper lookout and being distracted, just like the careless actions of distracted car drivers.

While the number of deaths dropped, serious boating accidents actually rose by more than 100 from 2014 to 2015, to a total of 737. This increase is not unexpected as there are more registered boats in Florida, over 900,000, than any other state. Of course, that number does not take into account the estimated nearly 1,000,000 unregistered watercrafts.

Considering drowning played a role in over half of Florida’s boating deaths, Key West boat accident attorney Joseph Lipsky reminds all boaters, no matter how experienced, that life jackets save lives, so make sure your watercraft is supplied with at least one such flotation device for each vessel occupant.

The IIHS’ study concluded that more than thirty thousand lives have been lost over the last 20 years, due primarily to higher speed limits. Last year alone nearly 2,000 people died in high speed highway car accidents. Incredibly, the rise in high speed highway deaths is more than the number of people saved by mandatory vehicle front crash airbags. Across the United States more than 9,000 people died in car accidents involving a speeding vehicle.

Ever since the U.S. Congress allowed states in 1987 to increase highway speeds above the 55 m.p.h. limit, the number of highway car accidents which resulted in wrongful deaths has risen exponentially. Most people do not realize that the reason speeds were allowed to rise, was not due to safety studies proving increased speeds were safe; rather, because gas price fears has subsided. In fact, it was those concerns over energy prices which mandated the 55 m.p.h. speed limit. The unexpected, and welcomed, side effect was a drop in highway car and truck accident deaths.

Those supporting the speed limit increase argued that most drivers exceeded the speed limit anyway. But as most drivers know, motorist will routinely exceed the posted speed limit, regardless of what it is. Research proves that even a 5 m.p.h. rise in speed results in a nearly 10 percent rise in traffic accident deaths.

Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney Joseph Lipsky agrees with the study’s authors, in hoping that Florida’s lawmakers remember the deadly effects continuing to raise our highway’s speed limits have on motorists.